Quite a full Sunday that starts with a tour around town in the company of our new acquaintance Jurek.
We first visit the Lazenki park, a mix of green and classic buildings and fountains. The Chopin monument is a moving permanent exhibit here.
Afterwards we move downtown and witness the very martial change of the guard at the monument of the unknown soldier.
FInally we walk around the old Jewish ghetto. There is an enormous monument to the victims of the Nazi repression there. A few people labor on the public gardens, it's the so-called Sunday voluntary work instituted by the socialist regime to show people's solidarity to the common good. The look on their faces shows something less than unbridled enthusiasm however.
In the evening another dinner with Marian and Ewa, but this time they take us out to the Krokodyl restaurant, one of the best in the old town. Another superb meal in Warsaw, repleated with red meat and good wines. I do feel a bit guilty about being able to splurge like this in the face of widespread penury meat in the city. But not enough to give it up! And it would not help anyone to give it up anyway.
15 March 1980
Warsaw Museum and lines for bread
In the morning the three of us go to the Warsaw Museum and watch a film on the systematic destruction of the city by the Nazi. The first part of the film focuses on the diabolically methodical approach to the destruction, the second part on reconstruction. The Russians' contribution takes center stage in this second part, which is highly propagandistic in nature.
As we drive away we see a long line of people, at least forty, queuing up for bread!
We then go for lunch at the "Habana" restaurant, which ha actually very little Cuban anything to show.
In the evening Stefan comes to talk to our room and tells us how when at official meetings (he is the president of the SGPiS students' association) they are always kept apart from the Russians. He makes no qualms of his growing disillusionment with the socialist big brothers.
Note: In 1983 they have established the Warsaw Uprising Museum, fully dedicated to the tragedy of the city during the Nazi occupation.
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| Patient Poles line up for bread. |
We then go for lunch at the "Habana" restaurant, which ha actually very little Cuban anything to show.
In the evening Stefan comes to talk to our room and tells us how when at official meetings (he is the president of the SGPiS students' association) they are always kept apart from the Russians. He makes no qualms of his growing disillusionment with the socialist big brothers.
Note: In 1983 they have established the Warsaw Uprising Museum, fully dedicated to the tragedy of the city during the Nazi occupation.
14 March 1980
Fusilli alla carbonara
Uneventful day of classes and reading.
In the evening I go to the girls' dorm to cook pasta. For the occasion I invested in a 30-zloty pot of sufficient capacity. I also bought Polish pasta (fusilli to be precise), not without serious reservations (will be be made of durum wheat?) about its quality.
I also bought eggs and bacon (the closest I could find to Italian pancetta or guanciale) to make carbonara.
The end result is actually pretty close to the real thing, and the girls like it quite a lot!
In the evening I go to the girls' dorm to cook pasta. For the occasion I invested in a 30-zloty pot of sufficient capacity. I also bought Polish pasta (fusilli to be precise), not without serious reservations (will be be made of durum wheat?) about its quality.
I also bought eggs and bacon (the closest I could find to Italian pancetta or guanciale) to make carbonara.
The end result is actually pretty close to the real thing, and the girls like it quite a lot!
12 March 1980
Car wash and cold pork broth
After a history class Ann and I go to the Victoria anticipating a good steak, they are well known for their "Chateaubriand". After we park the car two rather destitute men ask whether we'd like Giallina cleaned while we eat. I decline, she is clean enough. besides, they asked for three dollars, while on another occasion, when we were with Polish friends, the rate was only one and a half.
As we walk in we realize that Canaletto restaurant is closed. and the "taverna" does not have it on the menu. We settle for another lunch. A waiter still asks to change money as we are about to leave. As we walk away a bit disappointed a taxi man drives by and he also asks to change money. We find that the two men had claned our car anyway! Well, I give them 200 zloty.
We then go with Ann to various tourist offices where we find no information at all on Wroclaw, Gdansk or Lublin, three cities we'd like to visit over the next several weeks. Poland is clearly not geared up to welcome international tourism. Or domestic tourists, for that matter.
On the other hand we walk into a photographer's shop to get some passport size shots in anticipation for various visas we'll be applying for in the near future. We get 21 pictures each for only 71 zlotys! Several days later I will come back to this shop and have more photographs taken of me, and I will use them for my passports, driver's licences, ID cards etc for many years to come, to the point that by the time I ran out I hardly resembled the twenty year-old man pictured in them.
In the evening we dine with Marian and Ewa. Lots of pork and a special sausage, kind of a "coppa", made by Ewa and served with a tasty cold broth.
As we walk in we realize that Canaletto restaurant is closed. and the "taverna" does not have it on the menu. We settle for another lunch. A waiter still asks to change money as we are about to leave. As we walk away a bit disappointed a taxi man drives by and he also asks to change money. We find that the two men had claned our car anyway! Well, I give them 200 zloty.
We then go with Ann to various tourist offices where we find no information at all on Wroclaw, Gdansk or Lublin, three cities we'd like to visit over the next several weeks. Poland is clearly not geared up to welcome international tourism. Or domestic tourists, for that matter.
On the other hand we walk into a photographer's shop to get some passport size shots in anticipation for various visas we'll be applying for in the near future. We get 21 pictures each for only 71 zlotys! Several days later I will come back to this shop and have more photographs taken of me, and I will use them for my passports, driver's licences, ID cards etc for many years to come, to the point that by the time I ran out I hardly resembled the twenty year-old man pictured in them.
In the evening we dine with Marian and Ewa. Lots of pork and a special sausage, kind of a "coppa", made by Ewa and served with a tasty cold broth.
10 March 1980
Duck, moon and stars
After our usual morning classes we go for lunch at another "Duck Place", i.e. the restaurant Kmicic. I eat my usual duck, kaczka. Somehow there is never want of ducks in Warsaw.
In the evening we all go to a party at the home of a certain Leszek, also called Dyndol. Lots of friendly people and kanapki and vodka abound. People start behaving funny. A certain Jan sets up a barricade of furniture for the purpose of cornering Ann and making clear his predilection for her. This despite the fact that he is married, his wife Bozena is pregnant and everyone at the party is aware of this. I try to make some sense of this hitherto unheard of (to me) behavior but Alina explains to me that this is normal: "Jan is used to Bozena", she says, and it is natural that he is looking for fun with other women. All Poles do this, apparently, once they "get used" to their partner, and make no apologies for it. I will hear this expression on a number of occasions in the next couple of months. Apparently it is standard operating procedure.
Ann is a bit confused because at the same party Vadim promises "the moon and the stars" if she agrees to accept his love. Well, in the end the matter is resolved innocently and harmlessly, and we all go home safe, if a bit perplexed.
In the evening we all go to a party at the home of a certain Leszek, also called Dyndol. Lots of friendly people and kanapki and vodka abound. People start behaving funny. A certain Jan sets up a barricade of furniture for the purpose of cornering Ann and making clear his predilection for her. This despite the fact that he is married, his wife Bozena is pregnant and everyone at the party is aware of this. I try to make some sense of this hitherto unheard of (to me) behavior but Alina explains to me that this is normal: "Jan is used to Bozena", she says, and it is natural that he is looking for fun with other women. All Poles do this, apparently, once they "get used" to their partner, and make no apologies for it. I will hear this expression on a number of occasions in the next couple of months. Apparently it is standard operating procedure.
Ann is a bit confused because at the same party Vadim promises "the moon and the stars" if she agrees to accept his love. Well, in the end the matter is resolved innocently and harmlessly, and we all go home safe, if a bit perplexed.
09 March 1980
Church in Warsaw
A pretty easy and uneventful Sunday.
We are not religious but Andrew and I decide to go and have a look at a Church downtown.
The Church is packed to the brim with people. In fact the crowd overflows the building and many faithfuls listen to the Mass from outside. We are of course aware that Poland is a very Catholic country. The official Church has found a modus vivendi with the Communist government, but it remains one of the few channels through which dissent can be aired, if cautiously.
The election of a Polish pope two years ago has galvanized the nation and has provided a ray of hope for the opposition to the Soviet domination.
We are not religious but Andrew and I decide to go and have a look at a Church downtown.
The Church is packed to the brim with people. In fact the crowd overflows the building and many faithfuls listen to the Mass from outside. We are of course aware that Poland is a very Catholic country. The official Church has found a modus vivendi with the Communist government, but it remains one of the few channels through which dissent can be aired, if cautiously.
The election of a Polish pope two years ago has galvanized the nation and has provided a ray of hope for the opposition to the Soviet domination.
08 March 1980
Another concert and meeting Polish girls
Wake up late, around noon for a lazy Saturday. Ann and I go for lunch to the Forum hotel (in later years bought by Novotel) but it's nothing special, a little disappointed for its price level. Ann has a bit of stomach ache, who knows why.
In the evening I go to another concert at the Chopin Society, the same venue as yesterdays' concert. Again Buchbinder but this time he plays Schumann and Beethoven.
I have been invited by Christopher, a Pole who speaks perfect English and German.
Ann has gone out with Vadim. After the concert I meet Andrew at the Stodoła (the barn) where we pick up three Polish girls and spend the rest of the evening with them, ending up at the Bazyliszek restaurant for ice-cream.
In the evening I go to another concert at the Chopin Society, the same venue as yesterdays' concert. Again Buchbinder but this time he plays Schumann and Beethoven.
I have been invited by Christopher, a Pole who speaks perfect English and German.
Ann has gone out with Vadim. After the concert I meet Andrew at the Stodoła (the barn) where we pick up three Polish girls and spend the rest of the evening with them, ending up at the Bazyliszek restaurant for ice-cream.
07 March 1980
Credit, Beethoven and bear steak
Usual classes in the morning.
At 5:00 pm we listen to a lecture by a Polish professor on "East-West Trade". He says nothing unpredictable: we need to increase East-West trade, we need to raise the volume of exchanges. He also asks for "cheap credit" from the West to finance it. Right. Well not surprising: Poland is running out of cash. During the 1970s Gierek's government has been splurging to keep people happy but the coffers are empty. Lacking market reforms cheap credit is the only way forward. I ask him how Poland could increase productivity and thus afford international credit but he is rather evasive. Poland, like other Comecon countries, is getting subsidies from the USSR in the form of cheap energy but it's not enough.
In the evening great concert by the Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. The three of us manage to get good seats (second row for only 60 zlotys). All-Beethoven program, including the "Appassionata", one of my favorites.
After the concert we go for dinner at the Canaletto restaurant of the Victoria hotel and for the first time in my life I eat a steak of bear meat! Delicious. Only 1500 zlotys (about 13 dollars) for the three of us and this is the most expensive restaurant in the city. This can't work. Something has to give. The day ends with a long talk in the car with Ann, until 3:00am.
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| Rudolf Buchbinder |
In the evening great concert by the Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder. The three of us manage to get good seats (second row for only 60 zlotys). All-Beethoven program, including the "Appassionata", one of my favorites.
After the concert we go for dinner at the Canaletto restaurant of the Victoria hotel and for the first time in my life I eat a steak of bear meat! Delicious. Only 1500 zlotys (about 13 dollars) for the three of us and this is the most expensive restaurant in the city. This can't work. Something has to give. The day ends with a long talk in the car with Ann, until 3:00am.
05 March 1980
Pałac Kultury i Nauki
After our usual morning classes again for lunch in the university's cafeteria. After which I go to the post office to call Rome. I am getting used to not having a phone at "home" as well as not having a phone number people can call me at.
Andrew and I then go downtown for a walk. Our target today is the Palace of Culture and Science. Highly controversial for some time, but we find really nothing special inside that we can access or appreciate. I actually kind of like the architecture of the Soviet style skyscraper, one of many such buildings "donated" bu the USSR to its socialist "brother socialist countries" in the 1950s, though it is easy to understand how Poles see is as a symbol of Soviet domination and therefore resent its intrusion into their capital's skyline.
In the evening Ann goes out with Vadim, a Russian who is after her, and some Russian guys while Andrew and I decide to rest in our dorm. After a while, however, Andrew is bored and decides to go and check out the Hades bar/café our friends have recommended, but there is a concert tonight so not as much chance to socialize and pick up!
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| Pensive Marco in dorm room, Italian flag on the wall |
04 March 1980
Locked up in the dorm
In the afternoon we go to the Praga district of town to deliver two letters on behalf of some American friends of Andrew's. No success, we have the wrong address maybe, but can't find the people to whom the letter is written. Shame. We walk around a bit, it is a dark and desolate place. Dark. Mud everywhere, piles of mud in the streets. This is not a fun part of town... (NOTE 2013: it will change a lot over time though.)
After that we go to Hortex, an eatery serviced by a large food company, and have a good fruit salad with ice-cream and walnuts for 46 zloty.
The three of use spend a quiet evening in our dorm room, chatting and having a light dinner. Around midnight, when it's time for Ann to leave and go back to her dorm we realize all the dorm's doors are locked! No way to get out of the building, not even an emergency exit. Only a quarter (25 US cents) to the chubby, crancky and sleepy porter lady finally buys Ann the freedom to go back to her dorm a few hundred meters away, across the Independence Avenue.
This is a procedure that will become fairly common in the coming months: to get into the dorm late, to get out for a late party somewhere in town, and to let guests in and out the dorm after hours.
After that we go to Hortex, an eatery serviced by a large food company, and have a good fruit salad with ice-cream and walnuts for 46 zloty.
The three of use spend a quiet evening in our dorm room, chatting and having a light dinner. Around midnight, when it's time for Ann to leave and go back to her dorm we realize all the dorm's doors are locked! No way to get out of the building, not even an emergency exit. Only a quarter (25 US cents) to the chubby, crancky and sleepy porter lady finally buys Ann the freedom to go back to her dorm a few hundred meters away, across the Independence Avenue.
This is a procedure that will become fairly common in the coming months: to get into the dorm late, to get out for a late party somewhere in town, and to let guests in and out the dorm after hours.
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| Italian flag by my bed |
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| Bread, cheese and Vodka. Polish coat of arms and map on the wall behind Andrew |
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